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The jet pack first appears in Metroid Prime. They are rather large and bulky, and make up a large amount of the armour of the Flying Pirate class. The jet pack appears to be flame-based. However, the nature of the flame-based thrusters allow the Pirate using it to easily be tracked via thermal-vision technology. The movements of the Flying Pirates is jerky and slightly unresponsive, which suggests that the system is still in early stages.

Aqua Pirates are issued with a Gravity armoursuit jet pack that allows them to fly at normal speeds in an underwater environment, and produces blue thrust. However, the heat-signature flaw of the Flying Pirates is still present in the jet packs of the Aqua Pirates, meaning they can be efficiently tracked by the Thermal Visor.

The jet packs used by the Pirate Aerotroopers deployed on planet Aether is largely similar in function to the ones used by the Flying Pirates on Tallon IV. However, this version appears to be much more crude, which suggests it was cobbled together from the Space Pirate starship like many other systems used by the Pirates on Aether. This version produces a huge amount of smoke, which means it is also probably flame-based.

The jet packs of the Pirate Aerotroopers in Corruption are vastly different from the previous versions. They are more refined and smaller, and are used in concert with Remote Attack Pods, which provides a greater variety of movement and control. However, there is a severe weakness in the design of the jet pack; if it is subjected to large amounts of heat it can be removed by physical stress, which will cause the Pirate operator to fall mid-flight. This can be extremely dangerous to the Pirate if this occurs at a great height. If the jet pack is disengaged in this manner, it will fall to the floor and explode after a few seconds, taking the user along with it if the fall doesn't.